Led by two dozen chanting cheerleaders from Reading High School, a procession of city and state officials on Wednesday marched down Penn Street to a Penn Square news conference to excitedly announce the city got what it began seeking a year ago.

It got state designation as a Keystone Community, which approves its inclusion in the Main Street program that provides the ability to seek state economic development help and millions in potential grants.

"You're taking the challenges you face head-on you're thinking strategically," C. Alan Walker, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development, told the crowd as he announced the designation.

"One of the best things we can do to preserve our downtowns," he said of the designation. "They're worth preserving," he said.

Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer said it's always good to see something come to fruition.

"People put their egos down and got behind the initiative," he said. "That speaks a lot for the community."

The city has designated the 18-year-old Downtown Improvement District as manager of the Main Street initiative that will focus on making Penn Street cleaner, safer and more vibrant, to attract new businesses and shoppers downtown.

The Main Street application was dormant for months, until Spencer in June 2012 gave it to the DID and ordered it completed. DID put it together in six months, using a five-committee team with 100 volunteers.

It's expected to be followed by an application for a so-called Elm Street designation to focus on side streets.

<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7322550/">Do you believe the Keystone Community designation will mark a turning point for Reading?</a>

But Main Street is part of several moves that the city is making, among them a citywide economic development plan to be announced next month, and an application for yet another state approval, allowing Reading to operate a City Revitalization and Improvement Zone that uses state taxes to lure new businesses.

And the Main Street plan dovetails with the Penn Corridor Initiative, which Spencer said will create vibrancy from Wyomissing to City Park.

On Tuesday, the city purchased five downtown buildings, aiming to renovate the properties.

"Can you feel the wind blowing in our favor?" asked Lenin Agudo, community development director. He called the designation a game-changer.

"Wow. What a ride," Spencer said in the press conference's decidedly railroad theme, from its new catch-phrase - "Downtown Reading All Aboard!" - to the cacophony of wooden train whistles that spectators received early and blew at the end.

"Today you've heard who's already on board Are you ready to take the ride?" asked Charles R. Broad, DID executive director.

"This train is rolling, so you need to get aboard," Spencer said.

He said the Main Street designation came because of previous administrations' efforts to get it started.

"I think it's a fabulous achievement," said one of those former mayors, Tom McMahon.

"The designation is just a reflection of the city getting its act together," said another former mayor, Karen A. Miller, who had led DCED's predecessor agency. "I think it's great."

State Sen. Judy A. Schwank, a Ruscombmanor Township Democrat, said the city has a lot going for it, the timing is right and the city's Main Street plan is outstanding.

"It's so vital to help our downtowns in third-class cities," agreed state Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone, a Reading Democrat who thanked Gov. Tom Corbett's administration for the designation. "It's so much like we've been the forgotten children."

And City Council President Francis G. Acosta said the entire effort is a good example of building relationships.